Subject: Vaccines and immunization > Miscellaneous

Commissioned by project Optimize, a collaboration of PATH and the World Health Organization, a study of vaccine vial monitor (VVM) availability and use in developing countries in four regions was undertaken. The study had three aspects: the total proportion of vaccines with VVMs in the regions with detailed information by country, in-depth information on policies and practices, and knowledge and attitudes in a selected sample of countries.

In July 2010, project Optimize held workshops in Washington, DC, and Seattle, WA, to engage stakeholders from a wide variety of organizations. The workshops discussed developing-country immunization systems and sought participant perspectives on the desired future state of the systems. This document provides a summary of the workshops.

Both Iran and Sudan utilize an alarm-based temperature recording system to monitor the performance of their national immunization cold stores. To better the utility and application of such systems in other countries, this project Optimize report documents the benefits, challenges, and advantages of both Iran’s and Sudan’s systems.

This report from the vaccine technologies team at PATH presents results from an economic model that calculates the costs involved in delivering IPV vaccine in Indian immunization clinics according to three strategies: (1) intradermal delivery of reduced volumes of vaccine per dose, (2) use of adjuvants to allow a reduced IPV antigen content per dose, and (3) reduction of the number of doses per IPV immunization schedule. The strategies include delivery by standard technique and with alternative delivery devices.

Project Optimize is collaborating with the Vietnamese National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology on a series of activities designed to assess the opportunities and needs for strengthening the immunization system in Vietnam. This document reports the results of assessments of the vaccine supply chain in Vietnam, completed in March 2010.

This report, the first annual policy report of the Global Health Technologies Coalition, makes recommendations for Congress and the Obama Administration to ensure that the United States maximizes its investment in global health and continues as a leader in global health research and development. The report makes recommendations in three areas: public financing, regulatory pathways, and incentives and innovative financing.

The Optimize project, a collaboration between PATH and the World Health Organization, commissioned this white paper to examine the issues influencing vaccine producer willingness to advance, adopt, and commercialize value-added technologies for vaccines for low-income and lower-middle-income country markets.

This document provides a brief overview of the Optimize project’s strategy for developing delivery systems that are as advanced and innovative as the vaccines they support. Project Optimize, a collaboration between the World Health Organization and PATH, has been given a unique mandate to think far into the future: to put technological and scientific advances to work, helping define the ideal characteristics and specifications for health products; and to create a vaccine supply chain that is flexible and robust enough to handle an increasingly large and costly portfolio of vaccines.

Project Optimize, a collaboration between the World Health Organization and PATH, has been given a unique mandate to think far into the future: to put technological and scientific advances to work, helping define the ideal characteristics and specifications for health products; and to create a vaccine supply chain that is flexible and robust enough to handle an increasingly large and costly portfolio of vaccines. This brochure provides an overview of Optimize's areas of focus and activities.

This article, published in Expert Reviews (Expert Rev. Vaccines 8(5), 547-557; May 2009), reviews approaches being used to develop thermostable vaccine formulations that are resistant to damage caused by freezing or excessive heat and could reduce dependence on the cold chain. The article discusses the challenges associated with the implementation of these novel formulations as well as the potential benefits of protecting vaccines from damage caused by breaks in the cold chain.

This project Optimize study is a compilation of the literature available on the use of vaccines outside of the cold chain. Most of the studies analyzed in this review focus on hepatitis B, with one exception—a study examining meningococcal C vaccine.

This project Optimize landscape analysis identifies trends in the availability of vaccines and novel vaccine delivery technologies that are and will be of relevance to low- and middle-income countries from present through 2025. The document is available as one large file or as three smaller sections for easier downloading.

Technologies related to the temperature control of vaccines during the distribution process are essential to the cool chain. This project Optimize report provides a landscape analysis of these technologies and their appropriateness for use with vaccines in the developing world.

This fact sheet describes PATH's training of 70 immunization program supervisors in Vietnam's Ha Tinh Province to use supportive supervision methods, leading to immediate and significant improvements in performance.

PATH, in close partnership with Vietnam's National Expanded Program on Immunization (NEPI), has worked to increase the quality, safety, and efficiency of immunization services through the Iris Project. This fact sheet describes the project's process of testing province-wide systems improvements, identifying best practices, and encouraging other provinces to adopt the improvements. Work included updating and improving policies, training staff, and increasing community knowledge and demand for vaccination, particularly through technical updates, training of trainers, an introduction to supportive supervision, an out-of-the-cold-chain study, and an injection safety project with needle removers.

This issue of Directions in Global Health features five PATH projects: preparing for an avian influenza outbreak in Ukraine and Georgia; improving nevirapine packaging for prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission; preventing postpartum hemorrhage through the POPPHI initiative; increasing access to safe abortion in Nepal; and supportive supervision of immunization programs in Vietnam.

This edition of PATH Today features the article "Focusing on pneumonia" and updates on the Cambodia milestone in immunization coverage, new IRA rollover options for donors, Global Impact, and a profile on PATH donor Brandon Schaefer.